The pair soon reached the strangely styled building, it was still as Aegon remembered from his past visits, a lot of posted missions with paper showing clear signs of wear and tear and crisp new ones which were quickly snatched from the wall.
“So, what should we do this time?”
Roy shrugged his shoulders as a response.
“That doesn't really help, let’s see if there are any mercenary missions, maybe another visit to Miriande is waiting for us somewhere around here.”
Roy silently nodded and walked in the opposite direction while studying the papers on the wall.
As the pair searched the walls of the Mission Hall a familiar face arrived and immediately noticed them.
Feeling someone touch his elbow Aegon turned to find the familiar face of his sparring partner.
“If it isn't my student.”
Anna’s good mood suddenly vanished from Aegon’s teasing smile.
“You could just say hello like a normal person.”
Aegon simply scoffed in response.
“What are you doing here anyways?”
Aegon merely stared at the poor girl as if she was incredibly dumb.
“I was just making conversation….”
Scoffing once more, Aegon added.
“Well, apart from the obvious, we are looking for a mercenary mission or something of the sort for this month's mission so that we don’t have to spend too much time on it. It would be even better if it paid well.”
Anna nodded and started perusing through nearby missions.
“What are you doing?”
Anna looked up from the papers to see the annoyed face of her sparring partner.
“Looking for missions, isn't it obvious?”
“Ok but go look somewhere else, I'm here. Do you see me and Roy reading the same paper?”
Realizing the implication, she scratched her head as she defeatedly walked away.
[You didn't say I was invited, how would I know?]
After a few more minutes of searching Roy picked a paper off the wall and gave it to Aegon.
A smile appeared on his face.
-Escort a caravan of traders from Grandfort City to its destination-
A caravan of traders from a foreign country is passing through our land and requests protection from thieves and the like.
Requirements:
4 Disciples.
Rewards:
200 Contribution Points per disciple.
Signaling to Anna, Aegon made his way towards the desk.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
“It seems we’re going to the south.”
…
Inside a forest three days south of Grandfort, a wooden bridge swayed silently, the only way of crossing the river below. On one of its approaches a group of 4 youths and a black wolf leaned against an oversized rhino.
The only woman in the group broke the silence.
“Shouldn't they be here already?”
Travis turned to look at the other side and the road which extended into the surrounding maze of trees and saw…nothing.
“They should, but it’s normal to be a bit late, let’s wait a bit more.”
Hearing that, Aegon quickly corrected him from the side.
“They’re here.”
Travis frowned but didn't respond, noticing Aegon’s finger pointing above the tree canopy and seeing a cloud of dust approaching.
Soon a caravan that stretched for dozens of meters with multiple wagons and dozens of people, both atop the vehicles and on foot, crossed the bridge, stopping right in front of the group.
An old man left one of the bigger wagons, grabbed his cane and slowly but surely struggled his way to stand in front of youths.
Seeing this the group made a move towards the old man but were abruptly stopped by his raised hand.
Our hero’s face showed only admiration.
[This is what a real man looks like!]
Reaching the youths, the old man lifted his eyes from the mossy ground and studied them.
[Young looking, too young..] The old man judged them to be no older than 20.
[ And yet…, here they are escorting such valuable cargo….]
Looking back at his caravan and the dozen or so youths which were scattered about and mixed into his aids, he couldn't help but sigh.
[I guess they aren’t much different from the others.]
His gaze traveled further and settled on the rhino that leisurely grazed.
Finally breaking his silence, an aged voice, raspy to the point of being uncomfortable to even listen to, eased the tension the group was feeling.
“Are you the children those old dogs from the Sacred Bond Martial House found suitable to protect me?”
Surprised by the harsh question and the harsher tone the group took a moment to respond.
“Yes…we are.” Bowing his head Travis continued. “We are pleased to meet you and will do our best to keep the caravan… safe.” Towards the end of his sentence, noticing the other youths already surrounding the caravan and the sheer number of wagons, his resolve inwardly wavered.
Hearing Travis’s response the old man scoffed loudly.
“Sure, I bet you will, join the others. You will be helping secure the rear with that rhinoceros of yours.”
Not waiting for a response, the old man turned on his feet and slowly made his way back to the wagon.
Soon, the slumbering caravan woke up and continued its journey.
Watching this behemoth of a trading caravan pass by, they imagined the goods they carried within had to merit such a large force. Dozens of disciples from multiple Martial Houses and Sects passed by, each represented by different colored robes, some even had small sigils sewn onto their chests.
Finally the last wagon passed by and a group of 4 young men followed, bringing up the rear of the caravan. They were all too similar to Aegon and his group, youthful faces forcing expressions of wizened and dauntless men tested by the trials of battle.
The biggest of the four stepped forward and bowed his head.
“Marcus Smith, disciple of the Sword Island Martial House.” Lifting his head and sporting a confident smile, he added.
“Pleased to meet you.”
With an equally confident smile Travis bowed his head, though from the side Aegon could see droplets of sweat forming on his forehead.
“Travis, disciple of the Sacred Bond Martial House, pleased to meet you.”
An awkward silence ensued before a young man from the Sword Island Martial House took the initiative to make some small talk with Percy. As they followed the caravan through winding roads flanked by dense forest the tense environment eased up.
Later that night, the group of 8 youths sat around a fireplace which had been lit behind the last, now stationary, wagon.
Conversations flowed freely between disciples of both Martial Houses.
“Hey Percy, how’s it going with Linda lately?”
The young man in question instantly turned bright red and looked towards the laughing Travis with a stunned expression..
“Oh so my boy Percy has a little crush?” One young man that Aegon now knew as Peter teased from the side and soon enough the whole group was poking fun at Percy.
Amidst this ambience, Aegon, who had just been laughing from the side, noticed Anna isolated from the group, studying the wagon and trying to peer through its wooden planks.
Slowly closing into her ear, he lowered his head ever so slightly to whisper.
“What are you doing?”